Every five or six days, for better or worse, it will be a big start for Phil Hughes. While that might be unfair, it’s reality. With every poor start, the detractors grow in numbers and increase in rabidity. Phil can’t make them go away with a quality outing, but he can certainly piss on their fire.

As noted earlier, Johnny Damon has something of a hot streak brewing, as he’s 7 for his last 14, with a pair of doubles and a pair of dingers. The guy hitting behind him has six fewer hits in his last 14 at bats. But if they get going at the same time, whoo-boy, we’re in for an offensive explosion — not that we’ve been lacking over the past three games.

After a stellar night, Jorge sits. It seems like a good idea at this point to give him some rest. You don’t want to risk anything with his shoulder. So Hava Molina gets the start behind the dish. One has to wonder how much longer Chad Moeller will hang around, especially since the Yanks face two lefties this weekend. Shelley Duncan could prove useful.

A-Rod is with the team. Not sure what his status is, though. Maybe he could pinch hit?

Many of us have been quick to write off Mike Mussina this year. He hasn’t been spectacular for sure, with really one solid start against the Rays, and one not-so-terrible start against the Sawks. It seems like fans will judge him on a game-to-game basis this year, so six innings and three runs or fewer is crucial if he wants to stay in good favor.

(Though I suspect Moose doesn’t care what you and me think.)

We’re facing old friend Javy Vazquez, who has had a good start to the season. He’s struck out 27 to just 5 walks in 25.1 innings, pitching to a 3.20 ERA. He had a very good year last year too, striking out 213 to just 50 walks in 216.2 innings, compiling a 3.74 ERA.

(I said it at the time of the deal, and I’ll repeat: I would have much rather kept Vazquez, not traded for Johnson, and signed Beltran. Though it’s not like Carlos is making me look good this year.)

For baseball fans in Chicago, today is one of those rare days with the chance to grab a fantastic double-header. The Cubs are currently wrapping up a North Side win over the Mets, and at 7:11 p.m. Central time — yes, that’s intentional — the Yankees and the White Sox will square off on the Chicago’s South Side.

The Yankees today are without their All Star third baseman. The reigning MVP would have missed the game with a slightly strained quad, but he’s not with the team because his wife Cynthia gave birth to the couple’s second child. Anyone believing in conspiracy theories would posit that C-Rod’s labor was induced to conveniently keep A-Rod away from the stadium while his strained muscle heals.

On the field, Jorge Posada makes his triumphant return behind the dish. Posada hasn’t been the starting catcher since April 8, and he’s caught just 33 innings this season. The Yanks couldn’t have picked a better team against which to test Posada’s shoulder. The White Sox have attempted just five stolen bases this year and were successful three times. I think the Sox may test Posada’s arm, but the team just doesn’t run that much anyway.

Chien-Ming Wang, 3-0 with a 3.81, takes the mound today. He’ll look to avenge himself after failing to make it out of the fifth against the Red Sox last week. It’s been a long week for the Yankee bullpen, eh?

There’s not much to say about today’s game. If the Yanks’ bats don’t show up, they’re in danger of getting swept in Baltimore by the Orioles and will have a very long off-day tomorrow. If the Yankee starting pitching doesn’t show up, things could start to look even worse.

Per Ed Price, since Pettitte’s outing against Tampa Bay last week, the Yanks’ starters have been downright horrible. They’ve managed to throw just 15 innings over a span of four games while giving up 22 runs on 29 hits and 10 walks. That, Price tells us, is good for a 13.20 ERA. Somehow, the Yanks even managed to win one of those games.

So today, the Yanks will face off against Steve Trachsel, and I have to believe this could be one for Bombers. In Trachsel’s three starts this year, he’s thrown 14.1 innings, giving up a hit per inning and walking nine while striking out four. The Human Rain Delay has always managed to pitch fairly well against the Yanks though.

Offensively, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi and Chad Moeller are back in the lineup while Jorge Posada and Jose Molina find themselves back on the bench for the day. If the Blue Jays were wise enough to bench — and subsequently release — Frank Thomas, the Yankees should seriously consider benching Giambi. He’s not helping anyone right now.

Last night was one of those where I had to say “eff this” in the sixth and turn it off. There were plenty of better things I could have been doing (and did) than watch the Yanks get trounced by the Orioles.

I’m not sure why but I can’t stand losing to the Orioles. It irks me more to lose to the O’s than any other team other than the Sawks. I’m bothered even more by seeing them above the Yanks in the standings, even if it’s April, and even keeping in mind 2005.

A few notes from PeteAbe: Joba is en rote to Camden Yards. Not sure if he’ll pitch tonight unless absolutely necessary. PA also notes that Posada could be ready to catch tomorrow or Tuesday. That means there’s no chance he catches tomorrow, since there’s an off-day (!!) on Monday.

Nine and friggin’ nine against the Orioles last year. That’s pretty unacceptable for a team that basically had the inverse of the Yanks record. They hope to get off on the right foot tonight, as they take on the erratic — and that’s putting it mildly — Daniel Cabrera.

In his career, Cabrera has pitched 72.2 innings against the Yanks, to the tune of a 4.95 ERA. What’s strange is that while he’s struck out 7.52 per nine inning over his career, he’s only struck out 5.2 per nine against the Yankees. He’s walked 5.31 per nine over his career (hence the 5.02 lifetime ERA), and 5.70 per nine vs. the Yanks.

So he has struck out fewer hitters and has walked more vs. the Yankees compared to the rest of his career, yet his ERA vs. the Yankees is a tick lower than his lifetime ERA. Strange stuff. Could tonight be the night luck really catches up to him? We started moving in that direction last year, tattooing him for 20 earned runs (21 total) in 27 innings, with 18 strikeouts to 17 walks.

Really, Cabrera should be sick. He’s 6’7″ and has nasty stuff. But control problems have plagued his career, and not even the tutelage of Leo Mazzone could fix him. His ERA has climbed every year since 2005, and he has yet to crack a league-average ERA.

For the good guys, Phil Hughes takes the mount, trying to regain his form. And what better team to do it against than the Orioles? Yeah, they may be 9-7 now, but I can’t seem to figure out how. They only have three guys on the offensive side with an OPS+ above league average — and Luke Scott won’t be hitting .380/.456/.600 for much longer. Then again, it stands to reason that Ramon Hernandez will raise his paltry .152/.160/.326 line.

Oh yeah, and Edwar is in the house! Albaladejo is sent down, which is fine and good, since he tossed three innings last night. You might be asking what happened to Scott Patterson, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Edwar will be gone once Joba comes back, which probably won’t be too far in the future.

In the recent past, there was no Red Sox pitcher more fun to rough up than Curt Schilling. Every time that loud mouth took the hill, all I’d think was, “Please, A-Rod, take him deep.” (This in light of Schilling’s comments three and a half years ago.)

But with Schilling on the DL for at least half — and possibly all of — the season, we need a new whipping boy. Enter Josh Beckett. If we’re going to pick on a Red Sox pitcher, it might as well be their best one. We did get to him for 13 runs in 26.2 innings last year, and 21 runs in 20 innings in 2006. He wasn’t exactly at his best last time out, either, giving up 3 runs in 6.2 IP just five days ago.

One can only pray that Moose pitches like he did on Saturday. The last thing we need right now is another long performance from the bullpen. You figure Albaladejo, Traber, and Farnsworth could each go an inning (maybe two for Alb), plus Mo — though I wonder what kind of shape his arm is in after appearing in two straight games and warming up for a third. I guess we’ll see in the later innings.

No Matsui today. Looks like Girardi has set his rotation and is sticking with it. Matsui doesn’t have great career numbers against Beckett, though I doubt that was a consideration in this decision.